LIFE.com: A Salute to Bridesmaids

Bridesmaids Are So Hot Right Now

Typically, she plays second fiddle to the bride -- but these days, a bridesmaid is a pretty popular woman. At the end of April, Pippa Middleton got people buzzing as the maid of honor at her sister Kate's wedding to Prince William, then nabbed the cover of People magazine, which dubbed her "the knockout sibling who stole the show." And on May 13, Kristin Wiig (above left) stars in the glowingly reviewed comedy Bridesmaids, playing an Everywoman coping with the upcoming nuptials of her best friend (Maya Rudolph, above right). Here, a tribute to bridesmaids through history -- plus the reasons we love them so. (Michael Buckner/Getty Images/LIFE.com) Visit LIFE: Your World in Pictures

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Typically, she plays second fiddle to the bride -- but these days, a bridesmaid is a pretty popular woman. At the end of April, Pippa Middleton got people buzzing as the maid of honor at her sister Kate's wedding to Prince William, then nabbed the cover of People magazine, which dubbed her "the knockout sibling who stole the show." And on May 13, Kristin Wiig (above left) stars in the glowingly reviewed comedy Bridesmaids, playing an Everywoman coping with the upcoming nuptials of her best friend (Maya Rudolph, above right). Here, a tribute to bridesmaids through history -- plus the reasons we love them so. (Michael Buckner/Getty Images/LIFE.com) Visit LIFE: Your World in Pictures

Hours before her $1 million wedding to Charlie Shanian in 2004, Tori Spelling, cradling her pet pug, gathers her bridesmaids at the Bel Air Hotel. By the end of the following year, Spelling and Shanian were separated, after she had an affair with her TV-movie costar Dean McDermott. (Jonathan Alcorn/WireImage/LIFE.com) Visit LIFE: Your World in Pictures

A bridesmaid dares to wear lingerie at the vow-renewal ceremony of Twisted Sister rocker Dee Snider and his wife in Las Vegas, 2006. (Denise Truscello/WireImage/LIFE.com) Visit LIFE: Your World in Pictures

Actresses playing bridesmaids stick close to Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson at the premiere of the 2005 comedy Wedding Crashers. (Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage/LIFE.com) Visit LIFE: Your World in Pictures